BBC news 2007-05-16 加文本

BBC 2007-05-16


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BBC World News with Ian Perdon.

The head of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is meeting the bank's executive board to answer calls for his resignation. Mr. Wolfowitz is under pressure to go after a special panel concluded that he'd broken the bank's code of conduct by helping to arrange a large pay increase for his girlfriend, an employee of the organization. The White House said earlier that he had made mistakes but that they didn't constitute a firing offence. Justin Webb reports from Washington.

The full 24-memeber board will hear from Mr. Wolfowitz and must decide then whether to sack him or at least make it difficult for him to stay on. The panel investigating the deal he did to get his girlfriend transfer to the US State Department on a hugely increased salary and promotion package has decided that he broke the rules of the institution he led. "Nonsense", says Mr. Wolfowitz. In a statement he said, "I relied on the advice of the Ethics Committee of the bank as best as I understood it.”

President Bush has appointed Lieutenant General, Douglas Lute, to a new post coordinating US policy on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. General Lute, who is currently Director of Operations at the Pentagon, will report to the President and be known informally as “war czar.”

President Jacques Chirac of France has given his last televised address to the nation before he hands over power to Niolas Sarkozy on Wednesday. He expresses his affection for and confidence in the French people and he urges them to remain united under Mr. Sarkozy's leadership. His speech marks the end of a presidency which has lasted 12 years.

The Serbian parliament has approved a new coalition government made up of the three main pro-democracy parties. The vote came shortly before a constitutional deadline. The endorsement of the new cabinet has ended months of political uncertainty in Serbia. The Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, outlines the main priorities of his new government. “The issue of Kosovo, European integration, cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, social and economical policy and the fight against crime and corruption.”

Russia and the United States have agreed to tone down public statements over their differences, but remain divided over issues such as Washington's plans for a missile defence system in Europe. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said the agreements on public rhetoric came as a meeting in Moscow between the American Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon has urged the Security Council to set up an international tribunal to try the suspects in the killing of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafic Hariri. The move came after the American Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that a draft resolution establishing the tribunal could be introduced by the end of this week.

World News from the BBC.

A Brazilian rancher has been found guilty of ordering the murder of the American nun, and an environmental activist Dorothy Stang in the Amazon rainforest 2 years ago. The judge sentenced the man, Vitalmiro Bastos Moura, to 30 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence for paying gunman more than 20, 000 dollars to kill the missionary. From Sao Paulo, Garry Daffy reports.

Vitalmiro Bastos Moura had always denied being one of the organizers of the attack. The man, convicted in 2005 of actually shooting the America-born missionary, gave evidence in court in support of that denial. But after a two-day hearing, Moura was found guilty. Dorothy Stang spent over 20 years of her life working for the rights of poor settlers, struggling against large land owners in the state of Para, in the north of Brazil. She refused to leave even after her name appeared on the death list.

Rival factions in the Gaza Strip have been involved in fresh gun battles only minutes after a new ceasefire agreement was announced. The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, gave details of the truce plan on Tuesday between the rival Hamas and Fatah Movements. Aleem Maqbool reports from Ramallah.

Three days of battles - Palestinian killing Palestinian. Whatever the militants started fighting for, the killings are now in the name of revenge. People living in Gaza are terrified. But far from easing as the government promised it would, the violence is increasing. Tuesday was the bloodiest day so far. At least 14 people died, including 8 in one attack. Later on, a third truce was announced in these many days. The first two had lasted just hours. This one barely managed minutes.

The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana, has again called for the release of the abducted BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston. He said he had repeated his appeal to the Palestinian Authority to make every effort to secure the journalist's release.

BBC World News.